Large-eddy /reynolds-averaged navier-stokes simulations of a dual-mode scramjet combustor

Numerical simulations of reacting and non-reacting flows within a scramjet combustor configuration experimentally mapped at the University of Virginia's Scramjet Combustion Facility (operating with Configuration "A") are described in this paper. Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and hybrid Large Eddy Simulation /Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (LES /RANS) methods are utilized, with the intent of comparing essentially 'blind' predictions with results from non-intrusive flow-field measurement methods including coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS), hydroxyl radical planar laser-induced fluorescence (OH-PLIF), stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV), wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS), and focusing Schlieren. NC State's REACTMB solver was used both for RANS and LES /RANS, along with a 9-species, 19-reaction H2-air kinetics mechanism by Jachimowski. Inviscid fluxes were evaluated using Edwards' LDFSS flux-splitting scheme, and the Menter BSL turbulence model was utilized in both full-domain RANS simulations and as the unsteady RANS portion of the LES /RANS closure. Simulations were executed and compared with experiment at two equivalence ratios, pdbl= 0.17 and pdbl= 0.34. Results show that the pdbl = 0.17 flame is hotter near the injector while the pdbl = 0.34 flame is displaced further downstream in the combustor, though it is still anchored to the injector. Reactant mixing was predicted to be much better at the lower equivalence ratio. The LES /RANS model appears to predict lower overall heat release compared to RANS (at least for pdbl = 0.17), and its capability to capture the direct effects of larger turbulent eddies leads to much better predictions of reactant mixing and combustion in the flame stabilization region downstream of the fuel injector. Numerical results from the LES/RANS model also show very good agreement with OH-PLIF and SPIV measurements. An un-damped long-wave oscillation of the pre-combustion shock train, which caused convergence problems in some RANS simulations, was also captured in LES /RANS simulations, which were able to accommodate its effects accurately.